Why Tom Sawyer is the Worst and Most Valuable Character in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

     Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows a child named Huck as he goes along a journey down the Mississippi River with his slave companion, Jim. Throughout the novel, we see Huck undergo many moral dilemmas and witness many tragic and mindset altering events. This causes you to forget that Huck is a kid and believe he has grown into a much more mature individual with a more developed way of thinking. This view of Huck, however, is completely shifted when a certain character from Huck’s past comes back; Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer was Huck’s old “friend” whom Huck followed like a dog on a leash. Tom Sawyer not only reenters the plot, but he completely redirects how the novel should have gone. This is evident because Huck has a very practical view of situations, whereas Tom enjoys creating abstract and complex situations out of simple concepts. If Huck were alone at the Phelps’s place he would have released Jim as quickly as possible and with little risk as possible. However, Tom comes and creates complex solutions to simple problems an effort to entertain himself while ultimately forcing Huck to follow his lead and torture Jim, “It don't make no difference how foolish it is, it's the RIGHT way—and it's the regular way. And there ain't no OTHER way...”(Twain 35.56). Now, that was all showing how Tom is the worst character in the novel, however; Tom Sawyer was also one of the most valuable. Tom may shift the story and mess up the plot ultimately disappointing the readers, but, he does reveal something about Huck which in turn leads to the story’s moral. Toms entrance in the story caused Huck to almost forget every moral he learned and forget the relationship he had with Jim while he just follows around Tom obeying his every order. It is almost a complete change of character in Huck, except, it’s not; It’s a complete change in perception of character in Huck. Huck may have gained some from his experiences down the river, but that does not change who he was before the journey down the river. The audience was led to believe that Huck’s whole entire personality had changed and he had become a more intelligent and understanding person, yet they forget his past and that he is a child. Tom exposes this in Huck because Huck begins to follow Tom and follow orders that hurt Jim, someone he has become very close friends with along the way. This realization is disheartening, yet it is essential to the moral of the story, that the audience was foolish in believing in Huck and that the story would have an enjoyable outcome. Huck’s character teaches us to never completely trust in an individual to change and make right decisions without accounting for their past and who they are, and this lesson couldn’t have been possible without Tom Sawyer.